David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune archiveAuthorities were photographed Nov. 13, 2008, searching the campsite near Sun where Cynthia Lynch was killed.

There was no burning cross.

But one 2008 night in rural northeastern St. Tammany Parish, there were hoods and robes and burning torches, and screams of "White Power!" as an Imperial Wizard of the Bogalusa Sons of Dixie Knights swore in a female recruit to his local Ku Klux Klan chapter.

Afterward, they took a group photo. And, the next day, the Imperial Wizard, the so-called ring leader of the local Klan, Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 45, fatally shot that recruit, frustrated with her for whining about wanting to go home, for wanting to quit, for disrespecting him, according to Frank Stafford, 22, who took the stand on Tuesday evening and depicted his former Klan leader as a domineering and short-tempered man who killed Cynthia Lynch "because she had pushed his buttons."

Oklahoma Department of Corrections/The Associated PressCynthia Lynch took the bus to Slidell from her home in Tulsa, Okla., to join the Klan group that she'd discovered online.

Lynch, 43, had taken a bus from her home in Tulsa, Okla., to Slidell on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008, to join the Klan group that she'd discovered online.

Lynch had an extensive history of mental illness with recent diagnoses as bipolar and schizophrenic. She was a homebody, loved her computer, and her mental problems caused her behavior to be childlike and overly impulsive, according to her family and authorities.

After staying at the Fosters' home in Bogalusa for several days, on Nov. 8, 2008, she and the Fosters, along with others, went to the remote campsite near the community of Sun just south of the Washington Parish line.

Stafford, who was friends with Foster's sons and had been staying with the family for about a week, said Lynch was extremely eager to be sworn into the local chapter. She'd pressed for "a crosslight," a burning cross, but Foster told her that while that would not be possible, they could swear her in with other accoutrements.

Lynch seemed to enjoy herself during the initiation ceremony.

"She cried,. I guess, tears of joy," said Stafford, who was the one witness to take the stand Tuesday after nearly two days of jury selection in state Judge Peter Garcia's courtroom.

The next day though, Lynch began complaining. She was cold, thirsty and sleepy. She called her mother, who had been her consummate caregiver in Oklahoma, and told her, "I'm coming home," Stafford recalled.

After Foster told her she could not immediately go home, Lynch got more and more adamant, hysterically so.

"She screamed, 'I want out! I want out! I want to go home! I've had enough of this! I want to quit! I want out now!'" Stafford testified.

'I just stared ... I was scared ... I didn't want to get shot,' Frank Stafford told jurors.

Foster, angered, said "I'll drop you dead where you stand! I'll shoot you dead where you stand!" according to Stafford.

When Lynch approached Foster, he shoved her to the ground. She fell on her back and while Stafford adverted his eyes momentarily, a gunshot rang out. When Stafford looked back he says he saw Lynch getting up, holding her neck and walking toward him, pus and blood spewing.

"I just stared ... I was scared ... I didn't want to get shot," he told jurors.

Lynch fell on a nearby tent and after not moving for several minutes, perhaps passed out, perhaps already dead, Foster then stood over and said to her still body, "It serves you right," according to Stafford.

Stafford said Foster later explained himself thus: "She pushed my button, so I shot her."

Raymond 'Chuck' Foster is charged with second-degree murder.

Among the various Klan members present that evening, there was a lot of crying. But Stafford and Foster's son, Shane, helped Foster chop down bloody bushes and branches, and burned them along with the tent she had fallen on and all her possessions, including the items in her pant pockets.

Foster then raised up Lynch's shirt and used a razorblade to dig the bullet out of her. He threw the bullet along with its shell casing and his gun into the nearby river, Stafford testified.

"I have to live with this the rest of my life," Stafford told the jury. "This ain't something I'm proud of. I wish I would have helped the woman ... or at least tried."

Stafford's testimony is scheduled to continue this morning, and Foster's trial is expected to last through Friday.

Foster's public defense attorneys have admitted that Foster fatally shot Lynch. They are simply arguing that he was sufficiently provoked and that the lesser charges of either manslaughter or negligent homicide are more appropriate.